Sick Branch

Viva

She held Branch on her lap as her youngest sibling drank from his sippy cup, she giggled when he fell asleep not even halfway through drinking it.

She stood up and held Branch on her hip, grabbing the sippy cup and putting it in Poppy's bag so that if he did wake up then they could give him his sippy to calm him down and put him back to sleep.

She did a double check to make sure they had all of Branch's things in the bag Poppy would carry.

Clothes? Check.

Blanket? Check.

Toy ducky he can't part with? Check.

Pacifier? Check.

Sippy cup? Check.

BroZone records? Check.

Four different coloured sticks? Check.

Sad books? Check.

Pictures of his biological family? Check.

Viva smiled, that's all of it!

Then their dad walked in, ready to go as Creek lifted two bags onto his shoulders with a nod.

They all left the pod.

Viva heard a few villagers coo at Branch as she walked by, but she ignored them, she can't get distracted with her little brothers life literally in her hands!

She had a lot of help getting into the tunnel, and once her feet were on the ground, she took off running.

She couldn't afford to hesitate, not even for a second.

She heard footsteps behind her and she ran even faster, now that other people were making a line to follow her, she could go as fast as she wanted, as long as she stayed in the sight of at least one of them.

She heard Branch whimper and she winced, poor baby must be feeling terrible...

Branch squirmed uncomfortably, beginning to shiver.

Viva bounced him a bit and rubbed his back as she ran, trying to settle him.

But then she was shoved to the ground by a panicked troll.

She couldn't get up, so she covered Branch's body with hers.

Then Branch began to cry.

She looked at his face, he's so scared!

"Oh, buddy..don't cry, don't cry, please don't cry! Look at me, look, Branch, little buddy, you're gonna be just fine, okay?"

Branch continued to cry and Viva kept trying to calm him, "Come here, oh buddy.."

Once the crowd cleared up a bit, she sat up and picked up Branch, none of her family was in sight.

She took a deep breath and stood up, she's on her own, at least for now.

She took off running down the tunnel, though not as fast as she could, someone had stepped on her ankle..

She tried to ignore it though, cradling Branch as she ran.

But she had to wonder, why did everyone panic?

Then she saw a Troll, laying on the ground.

She rushed over to them and saw it was an older troll, one of the few who was kind to her baby brother!

She kneeled down and put her hand on the trolls shoulder, "Hey, come on!"

She shook the troll a bit, becoming confused as they layed still.

Then she noticed a giant hole in their back.

She paled and stood up, holding Branch on her hip.

The pain in her ankle was suddenly gone as she rushed down the tunnel, desperate to escape, or to at least get Branch out!

She spoke to herself as she ran, feeling Branch's tears fall on her shoulders, "Please, to the troll God's above and our ancestors before, at least let Branch survive this hell hole..." she begged.

She turned a corner and saw her dad, "Daddy!" She yelled, running faster.

Her dad smiled, but then his face looked terrified.

For a moment she was confused, until she noticed the ceiling collapsing in front of her.

She gasped, quickly sliding her hug time bracelet onto Branch's wrist, and she threw him ahead of her.

She watched him hit the ground and cry even harder, and guilt hit her hard, right in her heart..

But she could focus on the guilt later, she turned around and ran back, helping anyone she could to escape.